African-American Beauty Myths -- Busted!

'Black don't crack' isn't the only African-American beauty myth that's stood the test of time. From black hair care to makeup, we suss out fact from fiction

I'm ashamed to admit this, but for most of my teen years, I didn't wear sunscreen. Not only would I skip the SPF, but my friends and I happily tossed the tanning oil to each other while joking: "Black don't crack!"

The belief that black women don't get age spots, wrinkles, or skin cancer from sun damage was just one of many African-American beauty myths that I lived by. That is, until I become a beauty editor.

Spending every day talking to top beauty experts is the quickest way to suss out African-American beauty fact from fiction, and I quickly discovered that "rules" like dark-skinned women can't wear neon makeup, blonde hair never looks natural on us, or nude lipstick never complements our skin tone are totally bogus.

So, to put an end to these African-American beauty myths once and for all, I chatted with some of the top experts in the field of black hair, makeup, and skin care to get the low down on the biggest African-American beauty misconceptions.

In 3rd grade, we were having field day. My teacher was putting sun-screen on everyone in the class, she then skipped me and I told her "You forgot to put sun-screen on me." she then told me "You are already dark enough, you don't need any." Now mind you, I'm but not dark. It's crazy what you get told as a chid being black.